In the gathering dusk they did not notice that a trail diverged from the main one that they had been traveling, and they turned into this side trail, straining their eyes through the whirling snow to catch a glimpse of their comrades. They had gone on for about ten minutes, not talking in order to save their breath, when Frank put into words the growing uneasiness of all of them. "Queer that we haven't caught up to them yet!" he exclaimed, peering ahead, although he could not see more than twenty paces through the blinding snow. "We certainly are traveling a good deal faster than they were when we saw them last," declared Bart. "They must have got hold of some seven-league boots," grumbled Tom. "Put on a little more speed," advised Billy. "Make it snappy now, and we're bound to catch up with them." They quickened their pace, but without result. There were no footprints to be seen, but that meant nothing, for the snow covered up all tracks almost as soon as they were made. For twenty minutes more they hurried along as well as they could through the snow that clogged and clung to their feet, and at last the truth forced itself upon their unwilling minds. "No use, fellows," said Frank, as he stopped and the others gathered around him. "There's no use kidding ourselves any longer. We might as well own up to it that we've taken the wrong trail." "Guess you're right, old man," said Tom disconsolately. "It simply wouldn't be possible for us not to have caught up to them at the rate we've been going. We're up against it for fair, and the question is, how we're going to get out of it. Getting snowbound in this wilderness doesn't make any hit with me." "There's only one thing to do," said Frank decidedly, "and that is to right about face and try to find the place where we turned off." "Swell chance," muttered Tom. "It's getting dark now by the minute, and it'll be as black as pitch in a little while." "I know it's a forlorn hope," admitted Frank, "but it's the only thing to do just the same, and even forlorn hopes have a way of winning out sometimes. We can't stand here and be frozen to death. Perhaps we'll find some of the fellows sent back to look for us. Get a hustle on now." He set the pace, and they followed with a speed that under other conditions they would not have thought possible. But fast as they went, the snow and the darkness came faster, and despite all their efforts they were not able to find where the paths diverged. Everywhere was one bleak wilderness of snow. Soon they had all lost the path they were following and found themselves floundering through the woods among the tree trunks. There was no use in going further, for in the dense darkness they were quite as likely to be going away from their comrades as toward them, and at last Frank called a halt. "The storm's got us, fellows," he declared, with a forced laugh that had little mirth in it.